Future Metals (ASX:FME) has flagged a potential lower-capital development pathway for its 100%-owned Panton Platinum Group Metals (PGM)-Nickel-Chromium Project in Western Australia following a strategic processing and metallurgical review.
Conducted by ResourcesWA, the review evaluated historical data from 2001–2023 to assess opportunities to reduce Panton’s upfront capex and operating complexity.
A key finding of the review is that a single flotation train treating a blended feedstock of reef and dunite ore could replace the separate flotation circuits proposed in the December 2023 Scoping Study.
According to the review, this single-train approach allows ore sorting technology to focus on upgrading feed grade rather than separating ore types. Previous test work shows rejecting 10–22% of feed mass provides a PGM grade uplift of up to 1.16 times.
Managing Director Keith Bowes says the review, which consolidates over two decades of technical work, has identified opportunities to simplify the development approach for Panton.
“The next phase will focus on targeted test work and engineering to assess lower-capital and lower-operating-cost processing options while seeking to maintain the strong recoveries demonstrated through previous programs,” Bowes says.
“These outcomes will feed directly into a new Scoping Study, with the objective of defining a practical, scalable development pathway that preserves flexibility for future expansion.”
The review also highlighted potential capital and operating cost savings through coarser or staged grinding, flash flotation, and reagent modifications.
Additionally, engineering assessments demonstrate that nearby processing infrastructure at the Savannah plant could support various development scales. The existing Savannah 2.5-megawatt semi-autogenous grinding mill could support throughput of between 0.7 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) and 1.15Mtpa, depending on grind size, while its flotation circuit could treat up to 1.25Mtpa at a shorter residence time.
Future Metals is progressing targeted metallurgical test work and engineering programs to evaluate blended flotation, alternative grinding, ore sorting, and lower-cost recovery options.
The outcomes, combined with an updated mineral resource estimate released earlier this month, will be incorporated into a new Scoping Study planned to commence shortly.
Future Metals is an explorer focused on advancing its Panton PGM Project in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Future Metals
